


let us say goodbye

by orphan_account



Series: without red [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death, Emotional Hurt, Hurt, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt No Comfort, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith Death, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Langst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Physical hurt, This is so sad omg, galra - Freeform, i wrote this while listening to the soundtrack broken, keith be dyin, klance, klance angst, klangst, the gala suck ass mane, voltron death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 16:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The only thing keeping Keith from hurtling into the fiery void of war below, is Lance's struggling grip on his hand. Keith knows what his fate has become.





	let us say goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> This is really fuckin' angsty, I just couldn't help myself from klangst. I love writing angst, and I hope you enjoy this.

Guns were firing in the distance. Emergency alarms blaring, flashing red light throughout the castle. Sweat dribbled down his forehead and off the tip of his nose. His breath was heavy but shallow, hot puffs of air flowing out whenever he summed up the energy to exhale. His armor was in the worst state it had ever been before. The blue was faded, in some spots it was almost patches of white. Scratches and dirt, that at first glance, made the suit look like it had been buried underground in a desert for years. But that didn't compare to Lance himself. Despite the tough armor, his body managed to be covered in scars. Scrapes, stabs, gun blasts, you name the wound, he has it.

This was the teams most dangerous battle, but they hadn’t known that getting into it. The plan they had so thoroughly worked on, to ensure the freedom of those enslaved by the Galra on the Rukos planet, was gravely buried six feet under. Not only were most of the paladins out of commission, not only was the castle on the verge of collapse, but they hadn’t even finished rounding up all the citizens on the planet. They hadn’t even infiltrated an entire section of this planet. It was a small one, so it should’ve been easier to set free. But the Galra had other plans. No one had expected Zarkon to order all of their troops to got go after Voltron on this small mission. No one had expected Zarkon to try and wipe out Voltron here, _here,_ of all places. The sudden ambush by hundreds of Galra ships, thousands of solider, resulted in this very moment.

His arm was pulsing. His eyes were squeezed shut. The ache that started at his finger tips ripped all the way to his shoulder, making his arm feel like it could tear off any second. It strained through his neck, his torso, all the way to his feet, until his whole body was surging in pain. Yet he paid no mind to that. He _couldn’t._

Not when the red paladin was dangling from the edge of the ship, and Lance was the only thing keeping him from plummeting into the fiery hells of broken war, below.

Lance beckoned his eyes open for the first time in 60 seconds. He wished he hadn’t. ‘ Cause he saw it in Keith’s face. Like Keith _knew _what was going to happen. Like the future had flashed before his eyes during the time that Lance had stopped looking all together, like he was _okay_ with it.

“K-Keith,” Lance growled, voice unable to stop cracking violently. “You better wipe that fucking expression off your face, alright? I know what that, what that expression _fucking_ means and no, _n-no, _that’s just not acceptable. Don't you _dare_, Keith, o-ok?” The blue paladin tried his hardest to narrow his eyes at Keith, but it was so broken and cracked and there were tears already halfway down his cheek and his teeth were grinding so hard that he just might break his jaw. His eyebrows were furrowed and sweaty, and his mouth was dry, and every time he talked, it felt like nails were dragging down his throat.

Keith had assessed the situation a while ago. Below him was a main Galra ship, consumed by flames thanks to the castles defense system. In the same castle they were in, Galra soldiers were fleeting down the halls, trying to take down every last one of them. He knew the other paladins were wounded, and he knew Coran and Allura had gotten lost in all the explosions around them as they tried to take a separate fighting pod to get close up. And attached so tightly around his hand that he swear one of his fingers were broken, was Lance.

Oh, Lance.

The paladin above was in mental and physical anguish, no matter how hard he tried to cover it up by glaring at Keith. His knees were rammed into the edge of the hangar, one arm holding onto the edge for strength. Half of his body was spilled over, desperately trying to hang onto the dead weight that was Keith. His expression was crumpled, he was anrgy, sad, confused, desperate, and frustrated, all at once. And Keith was too, at one point. He was holding onto Lance for dear life, when the paladins hand had first caught him, scrambling his brain to find a way out. But then he stopped fighting, stopped searching. He could see his fate, though he would have never woken up today, thinking it was this close. His eyes were soft but determined as they locked on Lance, a faint smile ghosted on his lips.

“Lance.” He said softly. Lance scrunched up his face in response to his tone, and went off once again.

“No, Keith! _No. _Don’t fucking use that tone, okay! ‘Cause I know this situation is bad a-and, _dios, _I don't know how to get out of it but it’s going to be ok, whether you like it or not!” Lance’s sobs had broke through his words, choking on tears like he couldn’t breathe, diminishing the determined harshness Lance has tried to conjure up.

Keith only softened even more, his eyebrows dragging closer to each other, saddened at the poor boy in front of him.

“Lance, please.” Keith said in almost a whisper. “Don't let this happen without saying goodbye.”

Lance physically froze at that, his eyes wide and lips parted. Then the dam broke, and his emotions were rushing through his veins, coursing though his eyes as tears spilled, and the choked out cries had him gasping for air. He was muttering _no_’s and _please_’s and the castle was shaking violently, almost throwing them off balance a couple times. Tears were surging out of Keith’s eyes, as he desperately tried to focus on the boy in front of him instead of the ground shattering fact that it was the end of the line for him. He tried to stay strong, for him, for _them. _He pushed out hushed _its okay’_s and begged Lance to let them properly say farewell.

“I-I s-should have trained harder. _God_, for fucks sake_\- _if I was just strong enou-”

“No! Lance, no! Don’t.. do that, this is not your fault, just- _please, _Lance.” Keith’s breathless voice cut off Lance before he could spiral any further into a chest crushing guilt parade. Because this was Lance, and Keith knew how he was wired, and how he would fall instead of his loved ones, taking their place on the ground without as much as a hesitation.

“Lance,” Keith started. “Thank you for being a friend. I know we didn't get along at the Garrison, or even when we first became paladins, b-but, but..” Lance choking out even more sobs at Keith’s words, muttering even more_ no_’s.“But we really do make a good team. I-I have never had many friends, and.. and my bond with you is something I would never give up. It means, s-so _so_ much to me, Lance.” Tears were falling into the void below him, and at this rate, Keith wondered if they could fill up this universe like a pool. 

“Keith you mean so much to me, oh my god, _so much.” _Lance spilled. “I didn’t tell you that enough. I stopped us from being friends at the Garrison with my s-stupid rivalry because I.. I-I didn’t know how to properly approach you and,_ jesus fucking christ, _it was so stupid but I just- I just wanted to be friends with you more than anything in the world.” The pain was so harshly painted on Lance’s face that Keith recoiled into even more tears. He didn't want to leave Lance, he didn't want to leave _anyone, at all_. But there was nothing do, Lance’s hands were almost giving out, and at this rate they would both be tumbling down into the darkness below.

“Hey, _hey,_ Lance, it’s okay. W-we’re friends now, you know? And that's all that matters.” He said as soft as possible, trying not to let the exhaustion drain his voice. Lance nodded as best as he could, and carried on.

“I-I know you don't hear it often. and you didn’t have really have a family but _I love you, _Keith, a-and, and we are your family, and you are my family, ok? You are my family, Keith.” The last part came out a whisper. Keith was shocked and so before he could respond Lance plowed on. “A-and if we ever made it back to Earth, I would have- I would have--” But Lance couldn’t finish, clenching his teeth even tighter, trying not to go limp in the immense sadness taking over his body. Keith burst into muffled sob as he bit his lip, trying to soak in everything Lance had just thrown at him.

“I love you too, Lance,” Keith whispered. Thank you for giving me a family-”

Their hands were too sweaty. The grip had gotten too slippery to hold. Their faces snapped frantic in a fraction of a second, but Keith was already falling to his death, into the heavy explosions below.

“_KEITH!_” Lance screamed out, his voice ripping and_ raging _through the air. His throat was sore and rough and scratchy, and he could feel blood bubbling up in his mouth, as he continued to scream _Keith! Keith!_ over and over again, as if it would bring him back, but he didn’t stop. 

Keith’s skin was red and damp with tears when he let a peaceful expression flow through his face. His hand reaching, reaching through the space, as he hurtled to the orange and red fire below, through the memories, through the laughter of his team, through the rev of his red lion, through the smile of his father, and towards Lance, whispering one last time.

“Lance.”


End file.
